Demon Deacons

Wake Forest alternated between thrilling and ragged in its debut as the nation's second-ranked team Monday. Fortunately for the Demon Deacons, they had Chris Paul to get them through it. Paul scored 25 points and six assists to lift the Demon Deacons past George Washington, 97-76, in a Preseason NIT game at Winston-Salem, N.C. Justin Gray had 18 points and seven steals. * Cameo Hicks scored 14 points to help Washington upset No. 14 Minnesota, 72-67, in overtime in a women's game at Seattle.

Chris Paul and Luis Flores took different roads to Saturday's second-round NCAA tournament game in the RBC Center, but Wake Forest's freshman point guard and his senior counterpart from Manhattan College each wanted to wind up in the same destination. Paul will go to Continental Airlines Arena for the Sweet 16 in the East Rutherford, N.J., regional as a result of his performance against the Jaspers.

No. 5 FLORIDA vs. No. 12 MANHATTAN * Site: Raleigh, N.C. * Time: 9:20 a.m. PST. * What to watch for: Billy Donovan knows something about his Gators not taking a respectable 12th-seeded team seriously, but his players weren't around when Florida needed overtime to defeat Butler in 2000. Manhattan (24-5) is considered a dark horse by some to get to the Sweet 16, but the Jaspers will need a huge game from senior guard Luis Flores.

Auburn proved its point. Feeding off its underdog status one more time, the 10th-seeded team many critics believed didn't belong in the NCAA tournament stunned second-seeded Wake Forest, 68-62, Sunday in the second round of the East Regional. Auburn Coach Cliff Ellis angrily responded last week, saying his players earned the berth despite losing nine of their last 14 games and playing a weak early-season schedule.

For his last game at Wake Forest, James MacPherson was grateful that the game plan called for a bit more passing than usual. MacPherson completed nine of 16 passes for a season-high 241 yards and two touchdowns, and the normally grounded Demon Deacons defeated Oregon, 38-17, Monday in the Seattle Bowl. "Going into the game, I knew there were going to be opportunities to throw a couple of deep passes on them, and maybe score a few touchdowns," the senior said. "Luckily, we were able to do that."

Had you told Ernie Kent that his reserves would supply only two points and that Wake Forest would have five players score in double figures in their Midwest Regional second-round game, the Oregon coach wouldn't have blinked. "You have to remember," Kent said, "this is a team with a lot of weapons." Actually, they relied on three. Luke Jackson, Frederick Jones and Luke Ridnour were enough Saturday as they combined to score 81 points in a 92-87 victory over the Demon Deacons at Arco Arena. No.

So much for that first-round upset special. Pepperdine, a popular choice to knock off Wake Forest, probably should have, but didn't do it Thursday at Arco Arena, losing, 83-74, to the Demon Deacons in a Midwest Regional game decided in the last 21/2 minutes. The Waves were down by two points with 2:23 to go, but they didn't score again until there were 37.5 seconds left, outscored, 9-2, down the stretch. Wake Forest thus avoided getting dumped on its backside, as some believed was possible.

On the eve of his team's first-round NCAA tournament game against Pepperdine, Wake Forest Coach Skip Prosser sounded more prepared for baseball's opening day. "I doubt this will be a pitcher's duel," Prosser said. "You know, a 1-0 game. I think it will be relatively up-tempo." The Demon Deacons couldn't stop talking about athletes. Pepperdine has lots of them. Wake Forest's best one is hurting. "They really harken to mind Arkansas in terms of how athletic they are," Prosser said.

Despite a temporary glitch, it was a picture-perfect Sunday in Malibu for the Pepperdine men's basketball team. With clear, blue skies outside, players and coaches beamed sunny smiles inside the university's Heritage Hall when it was announced on television that the Waves will play Wake Forest in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday at Arco Arena in Sacramento. Tipoff is at 11:30 a.m.